1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photographic printers and, particularly, to a system for thermally marking individual areas of photographic media exposed by such printers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Photographic printers are known to the prior art. Automatic printers typically include supply and take-up rollers for photosensitive photographic media and a mechanism to automatically advance the media through an exposure station. The image to be exposed is established in known manner and projected on the photographic media in the exposure station. A shutter is employed to control the exposure.
An example of the type of printer discussed above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,545 issued Apr. 20, 1976 in the name of Orren J. Lucht for PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT APPARATUS which is commonly owned with the present invention and which is hereby incorporated by reference. The printer of this patent employs an interchangeable lens assembly formed with stacked, alternative lens configurations. That is, the different lens configurations are spaced from each other along the general direction of the printer optical path. They are movable, within the lens assembly, between first and second positions--one of those positions being within the optical path of the printer with the other being without the optical path. Selectively actuated plungers are operative to position the desired lens configuration within the printer's optical path.
The output of the printer discussed above is a roll of exposed photographic media which, when processed, produces a roll of media bearing photographic prints of varying sizes. That is, each exposure results in exposure areas of varying sizes with one or more print areas within each exposure area, all dependent on the lens configuration employed.
The size variation and exposure areas noted above, as well as the variation on the number of prints within each exposure area has complicated the automatic separation or cutting of one print from another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,377 issued Dec. 16, 1980 in the name of William R. Rasmussen, Jr. for a PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTER discloses a marking system that indicates the location of the border between adjacent exposure areas. This allows an automatic separation of one exposure area from another, as by cutting, for example. This marking system, however, indicates only the location of the border between adjacent exposure areas without providing any indication as to how individual print areas are arranged within the exposure area.
Another marking system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,824 issued Mar. 26, 1985, in the name of Stephen A. Bartz for PAPER CUTTER. The Bartz marking system provides a code which identifies a particular array of print areas being exposed. Thus, the use of the Bartz system allows a more fully automated cutting operation which contributes to overall system efficiency.
In the cutting operation, the marking or coding of the two noted patents is typically obliterated or removed. Thus, after cutting, these systems may not provide an effective identification of a particular print. To provide such an identification, some have turned to impact-type printers. However, such printers may damage the photographic material such that further automated handling is prevented or the print itself is damaged. The two marking system patents noted above are commonly owned with the present invention and are hereby incorporated by reference.